Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement

Written By: David Hodson
  • Comments: 207
Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

26

Time Required

1 - 2 hours

Introduction

Use this guide to replace a broken DVD drive. Depending on your new part, you may have to swap out the four rubber grommets on the DVD drive housing.

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the white plastic screw covers stuck to the lower case near the front of the Wii.

    Die Abdeckungen sind geklebt, stecken also nicht.

    Ludger -

    Don’t mistakenly remove the rubber case feet

    Bob Trout -

    I just did. That picture could be better.

    B G -

    Thanks I almost removed the rubber feet

    Lushane -

    If you’re wondering what to use for this, the main blade of a pocket knife from the corner of the plastic works well.

    Cameron Holman -

    As you remove the hardware in each step, place them together on a sheet of paper and circle them with the step number.

    Tom J -

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    • Remove the two 8.3 mm Tri-Wing screws hidden under the covers you just removed.

    Before you start, get a small plastic tray with at least 15 small bins in it, and put the screws you take out in each step in the bins in order. It makes reassembly a LOT easier.

    larry -

    NOTE: You need a Y1 screwdriver. Be careful when buying the little red screwdrivers on Amazon that claim to fit the Wii - they don’t!! From personal experience.

    Robotai -

    Just to add to Robotai’s comment, if you do get the little red/orange screwdrivers on Amazon, file off the tip. It if’s mostly blunt, it fits the tri-wing screws much better.

    jeff -

    1/16 x 1 craftsman Phillips mini screwdriver works for this if you don’t have the tri-wing driver

    grace nicosin -

    How do you make one ? If you don’t have the screwdriver

    Ethan -

    I am using a 18ct empty egg carton to hold the screws/parts removed in the steps.

    karenmparamore -

    Larry’s idea about the bins was great and helpful.

    Robots is right- you NEED a Y1. Just buy the thing with the drive. I didn’t, tried many other options, none worked. Had to order the thing separately with shipping. Mistake….

    David Ryan -

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    • Remove the single 5.9 mm Phillips screw under the controller port door nearest the faceplate.

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the rubber foot stuck to the side of the Wii near the DVD drive opening.

    All of the rubber feet on my very old Wii had literally melted into a gooey mess and just needed to be scraper off and cleaned with alcohol.

    Bob Robins -

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    • Remove the single 5.9 mm Phillips screw hidden under the foot you just removed.

    please help! my lil sis got a disc stuck in my wii while it was off!!! please help fast!!!

    Leah Vegan -

    does it turn on?

    Giovanni Munoz -

    It won’t come out, it will turn and go up but it won’t go fully out

    Mmbb -

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    • Carefully pull the faceplate away from the front of the Wii.

    • Use a pair of tweezers to disconnect the LED cable's plastic connector from the motherboard.

    • Remove the faceplate.

    surprisingly, this was the trickiest step for me. I almost completely mangled the wires when my tweezers slipped as I was attempting to remove the connector.

    rbelknap -

    I removed it with a spudger, gently lift from each side until it pops out.

    For those reassembling

    line up the pins push it in with your spudger gently until it's in. Then line up the front plate, push gently, confirm everything is where it should be and push firmly, I found it needed a strong push to sit flush with the other body panels.

    James middleton -

    I ended up using needle nose pliars on this step.

    Awesome detailed guide made this very easy, thank you author!

    Glenn Woodard -

    Can someone direct me to what I need to do? My tweezers slipped and I cut one of the wires on the connector. Where can I find a new Y plug for the wii?

    jaredslaweski -

    I also broke my wire trying to use tweezers. I should have known better. I use (normally do) a spudger on one side and my fingernail on the other to gently pry these types of connectors out. I ended up buying a replacement faceplate on ebay.

    Tyler -

    This was the hardest part for me. I tried using my fingernails, two different tweezers, and needle nose pliers, but I ended up cutting both the wires. Anyway, I put some electric tape over the exposed wires and just reassembled the system. Funny thing is that the LED still works and I have not noticed any difference. I'm not sure what those wires did, but they seem to not be important.

    Nick -

    For people still wondering after all these years, :), The connector is for the blue leds around the dvd when loading and unloading a disk.

    Niels -

    I also broke off the flimsy wires at the connector. To NOT break the wires, alternate pressing on the right and left sides of the connector with a small flathead screwdriver. Be patient, it will eventually work itself free. There isn't enough to grab onto with the tweezers and you'll only succeed in having them slip off, grab the wires, and yank the wires out.

    Good news is that if you do rip out the wires, no worries... I didn't reconnect them and the unit works just fine. I have no idea what those wires are even for. Power LED continues to work no problem.

    jasendorf -

    I used two small flat head screw drivers, one on each side to pry out the connector. This created less pressure from me and reduced my chance of cutting the wires.

    mulkey -

    This guide is really marvellous - works a treat. But I would definitely recommend needle nose pliers for this step rather than tweezers. It's really easy if you use pliers and potentially damaging if not, and you get it wrong. I had one sniff at it with tweezers then immediate nipped out to the garage for my pliers!

    thepitcanary -

    Definitely a tricky step with that connector. I also cut broke the wire accidentally and was going to just give up trying to fix the Wii. However, as others stated the Wii works just fine, including the lights. I do wonder what those wire are for.

    darcaesar -

    I also had a lot of trouble trying to get the connector off with tweezers. Ended up leaving it attached. It does not really get in the way of remaining steps.

    Ron Even -

    Needlenose pliers did the trick for us!

    Ron Cormier -

    Needlenose pliers did it for us!

    Ron Cormier -

    You can save yourself some trouble at this point and skip the rest of the disassembly: See that green tab to the left of the sd card slot? THAT’S the wifi board (and that green tab, in hindsight, seems designed to make it accessible without taking apart the whole device, don’t you think?) A little careful spudging, and you’ve got it out, ready to replace! (There’s a guy who shows the process on youtube, if you want to review first)

    Will -

    I got the connector out ok thanks to the suggestions here, but I couldn’t figure out how to reattach it. In the end, I just kind of threw it in and it worked fine.

    Christine Wittmer -

    Very clear instructions - thanks! Faceplate needed replacing after one of my son’s friends accidentally kicked it across the room. $10 bucks to fix, thanks to ebay and these instructions. I’d never heard of a “tri-wing” screw before.

    LInda Rawlins -

    I just left the connector alone and kept it connected while working on it. There is enough wire to allow you to do what you need if you are just careful not to snag it on anything.

    Michael Payne -

    I, too, left the connector attached and just took care that the loose faceplate did not stretch the (not crucial) wire when moving rest of the Wii.

    Matti Haveri -

    This was the trickiest part, I almost broke the wires using tweezers and pliers, so instead use a flat end screwdriver to pry it out, when putting it back in use needlenose pliers to start it then use your fingernail to go the rest of the way.

    grace nicosin -

    After I got the connector out I noticed the little locking flap on the top side of the connector. I think prying this first is the key to easier removal.

    Will B -

    Anyone know of a method to replace the connector if you end up breaking the wires? Bits of wire are stuck in the white plastic connector, so I'm wondering if I can buy a connector online somewhere without replacing the whole face plate. Thanks :)

    Bronze Owl -

    I severed both wires. If you want to avoid removing the connector, you can lengthen the two wires by unserpentining them from the wire holder that's in the cover.

    Griff Derryberry -

    Make sure there is no SD card in your unit before pulling this off, otherwise it'll get stuck and you could snap your sd card in half!

    carlosahiciano -

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    • Open the controller port cover until it is perpendicular to the black controller port bezel.

    • Pull the controller port cover straight up to release it from the outer case.

    • Repeat this procedure for the memory card port cover.

    I wasn't able to reassemble the socket covers when I reversed this step..

    While disassembling, I did as instructed pulling the covers upwards when they where perpendicular to the black cover plate but Nintendos instructions says to open the covers (so that they are perpendicular to the black cover plate) and then gently push the covers towards the console with your fingers on the outside of the cover opposite side of the hinges so that the cover hinges will pop out and then lift it up..

    I'm not sure, but I think ignoring Nintendos instructions caused the hinge sockets to break for me, so replacing the controller/memory card socket covers will not work.

    When reassembling, the cover can be placed perpendicular to the black cover plate and rest on the plastic hinge with a few millimeters between the cover and the console, and then they can be pushed down to click in place. But in my case they keep falling all the way down since there's no resistance and nothing to click into.

    Martin Johansson -

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    • Remove the two remaining 4.1 mm Phillips screws along the top edge of the black plastic controller port bezel.

    • Lift the bezel from the long edge furthest away from the controller ports and remove it from the Wii.

    The 3rd hole is in step 3.

    James middleton -

    The bezel is the flat black plate. Removing the three screws that secure it allows you to remove it. If your cube is like mine, this plate likes where it lives and, even with the screws removed, managed to stay in situ without anything holding it.

    Dennis Johnston -

    Beware. The edge of the bezel, opposite these screws, has clips. Lift the bezel from the top edge, where the the screws are, to avoid breaking these clips.

    Dennis Johnston -

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    • Remove the two 5 mm Phillips screws above the controller ports.

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the three highlighted screw covers stuck to the side of the Wii.

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    • Remove the following screws:

    • Two 5 mm Phillips screws

    • One 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screw

    Instead of the Phillips screw on the left I had a very small one under a cover to the left of that!

    Donna Vought -

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the two rubber feet stuck to the bottom face of the Wii near the rear ports.

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    • Remove the two 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screws hidden under the feet you just removed.

    • You may use a 4 mm hex driver to extend your bit into the recesses and reach the screws.

    had a little trouble with theses screws. they were just barely too deep for my 54pies bit driver kit to reach. I ended up inserting a small wad of paper into the shaft of my driver so the tri-wing bit stuck out far enough to engage the screw. (I used the tweezers to remove the paper when I was done) :)

    rbelknap -

    I can confirm, this works fantasticly!

    Thank you

    James middleton -

    When putting the screws back in hold the tip still with the screw and carefully drop it in.

    James middleton -

    Thank you rbelknap, this is excellent advice for those using the ifixit branded driver.

    George Squires -

    You could also use the 4mm nut driver in the iFixit kit to turn the tri-wing driver. This will give you a little more reach.

    Edward Tucker -

    How is no one talking about the included 4mm nut driver trick at Edward Tucker mentioned?! That is genius! Thanks mate!

    Zabuza -

    That's the idea that I needed. Agree with Zabuza.

    cwdick -

    Bingo. All of the other comments were unnecessary.

    Tony Shannon -

    Because it doesn't come with the screw driver in the kit. Only has the tri wing and the cross tips.

    Craig Goodsell -

    This paper wad trick totally worked for me too!

    anonymous 779 -

    Standard Tri-Wing bits will NOT fit into the holes. Make sure that you get one of the tool kits from iFixit (I just ordered the Mako Driver/Bit kit with 64 bits ) - the Tri-Wing bits in this kit have a narrow shaft that allows it to reach deep into narrow holes like these on the Wii . (Disclaimer - I have no association with iFixit).

    dave whale -

    I just sawed off a bit of the shank holder from the iFixit tool, in order for the bit to go deep enough into the case.

    The tool still works fine.

    Alan Walker -

    Thanks for the paper wad trick advice! Worked perfectly with my Wii

    Finder352 -

    The 4mm driver was the exact fix for this problem, no mods necessary

    Tony Shannon -

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    • Lift the outer case straight up off the body of the Wii.

    This step could use at least another picture from the backside so it's clearer what comes up and what stays down.

    Jose Vazquez -

    I used a spudger around the edges of the outer case to gently ease it upward since I could not lift it out with my fingers. Then it came right out.

    Marko -

    Good tip. Having, in the past, broken pieces that required a little persuasion, I attempted to "lift" the outer case, but it wouldn't budge. Using the spudger to persuade it worked like a charm. Also added this suggestion to Step 18 "Lift the drive shield."

    Dennis Johnston -

    hey marko that really helped me thanks\. als if you need help figuring which side is up, its the one with the nintendo engraving on it

    Aryan Garg -

    A fan filter fell out at this step how do you put it back?

    Edit: I figured it out it was from the side intake vent. Just line up the two notches with the pegs in the case to hold it in place

    Darren Jones -

    This is an awful guide

    Alexander D Schaefer -

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    • Remove the small Phillips screw securing the battery door to the bottom panel.

    • This screw is captive to the battery door.

    • Pull the battery door out of the Wii.

    • The system time will be reset once you remove the battery door.

    • This is a good time to change the CR2032 battery if it hasn't been changed recently.

    The screw on the battery door of my Wii required a Phillips #000 screwdriver, which is not listed in the required tools.

    Ben -

    The screw is a PH0000 (quadruple zero) requiring an exceptionally small Phillips screwdriver to remove. If this is your first time in here in a while, this may also be a great time to change the CR2032 battery.

    Steve Bonds -

    I was able to use the ph0 no problem.

    Darren Jones -

    I used a 00 with no problem.

    julie -

    What does this battery do? I never knew there was a battery inside of the WIi.

    Stephen Thornhill -

    thje battery is used to maintain timwe and date etc

    Electronik -

    Where can we get a new battery from?

    Chriul Rg -

    You can get a CR2032 batterie in your local supermarkt. It is recommended to change it after 5 years, but I have seen devices run for 15+ years.

    Playa -

    my wii survived 15 years already with the same battery

    Bas Molendijk -

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    • Remove the 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screw that was hidden beneath the battery door.

    Note - this screw is a machine screw (e.g. not self-tapping). It screws into a hex nut, and that nut is captive in a slot in the case. When reassembling, ensure that this hex nut is still captive, and has not migrated out to other areas within the Wii.

    dyanetti -

    The other drive cage hole is screwed in step 11, continue to reassemble.

    James middleton -

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    • Remove the two 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screws securing the DVD drive shield near the controller ports.

    The screw on the right for my wii just refuses to come out

    Robert Menocal -

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    • Lift the DVD drive shield upward and remove it from the Wii.

    Be careful not to cut your fingers on the sharp edges of this metal shield. My daughter actually scraped enough skin to cause blood to drip off her finger. Then we noticed her skin stuck to the metal edge. Yuk.

    J Smith -

    True story I did it to myself lol

    James middleton -

    Does the dvd shield need to be there? I want to remove it but im not sure if i should

    Kadamo -

    If the drive shield needs a little extra persuasion, us a spudger around its perimeter. Also helps prevent cuts when force meets resistance on this metal shield.

    Dennis Johnston -

    There are spring steel tabs on both sides.

    Dennis Johnston -

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    • Remove the four 9 mm #1 Phillips screws securing the DVD drive to the bottom panel.

    The two left hand screws were very difficult to relocate during reassembly. I was coaching my 8 year old through this, and this was probably the only step that he couldn't do. We dropped these screws several times, and used magnets to retrieve. Miniature needle-nose pliers gripping the 'washer' surface of the screw were too wide. We managed to purchase the 'button head' of these screws with the needle-nose and drop the screws into their hole, and push with the phillips until secure. I would like to hear how others install these screws, please.

    dyanetti -

    I had the same problem as you and eventually found an easy way round it. I wrote this to be added to the instructions but it was rejected: "Once the DVD drive has been removed, remove the 4 rubber washers from the screws removed earlier and insert them into your new DVD drive. Because two of the screws are difficult to reach, it is best to insert these two screws into the washers and then slide them into place ready for securing to the base plate".

    The rubber washer holds the two screws roughly in position, you can then reach them with your screwdriver through the two holes (about an inch away) and finish tightening them up.

    Gary -

    For the two screws at the front of the chassis, use a three-pronged parts retriever to lift them out after you unscrew them.

    Walter -

    Helpful tip: Use a magnetized screwdriver for the 2 screws nearest the DVD face because they are set in deep sockets

    Blake Minghelli -

    During reassembly, it can be tricky to position the recessed screws. To temporarily magnetize your screwdriver, rub the tip against a magnet for 5-10 seconds. (A refrigerator magnet will do.) You should then be able to put the screw on the tip and gently lower it into position.

    Matt D -

    Thanks - the refrigerator magnet trick worked for me,

    Jim Allen -

    Another method for getting the front screws back in is to insert a small pair of tweezers through the DVD slot to guide the screw in. I just dropped the screw in between the tweezers which held the screw just above the hole. Then I was able to use the phillips screwdriver to guide the screw into the hole and screw it in. Done in just a few seconds.

    Another option would be to stick a dab of hot glue on the screw to your screwdriver and then when the screw has been driven home either the glue stays on the driver and is easily removed or it stays on the screw and you just pull it off with tweezers or needle nose pliers.

    accts4mjs -

    The screwdriver provided in the kit by ifixit is a magnetized screwdriver and works perfectly!

    mulkey -

    If you are disassembling your Wii because, say, a two-year-old has shovelled pennies into it (yes, that was me) you will also need to partially disassemble the drive itself, which is not covered in this guide. Luckily it's really easy. Unscrew the 4-5 larger Philips/cross head screws on the top of the frame (NOT any of the smaller darker ones) around the edges, and the frame on top of the drive will lift right off. Be careful as there is cabling running to it, so don't yank it or pull it too far off. You will now be able to get any coins or other foreign objects out.

    thepitcanary -

    I didn't have a magnetic screwdriver, so I applied a tiny amount of fabric glue to the head of each screw, waited a minute for it to start to harden, inserted my non-mag screwdriver into the screw head, and the screw stuck to the screwdriver long enough to insert it into the hole.

    Lee Crooks -

    Be advised that the posts that these screws go into are very fragile and may even break. Make sure to get the little plastic pieces out if you over tighten them or they are just brittle and broken to begin with. The screws seem to be long enough to work if you do break the posts off completely.

    Michael Payne -

    I needed a size 1 Phillips screwdriver for this step.

    julie -

    Thanks, I will include it in the guide

    Angel -

    Be careful with these screws - they seem to be quite malleable and easy to strip.

    Electronik -

    I ended up using an extra fine tweezers from a watch kit, stuck it through the vent opening "inside" the screw area and acted as guideposts to thread in. Only because I didn't have a magnet for the screw.

    kwjayhawk -

    I guess this is a warning applicable to anything that has to do with plastics, but this step in particular: Be extra careful not to overtighten these screws when reassembling the unit because the plastic sockets will easily break/shatter..

    Martin Johansson -

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    • Lift the side of the DVD drive opposite the controller ports enough to access the cables on its bottom face.

    • Carefully pull the DVD drive power cable out from under the plastic shroud near the heat sink.

    When reversing these steps to reassemble the Wii, at this point it is possible to do a quick test before screwing the drive to the case. This will save you a lot of time if something is wrong.

    Don't touch anything you don't have to while the case is off.

    Carefully plug the power cable into the back of the Wii, then use a screwdriver to gently press the white button next to the glowing yellow LED on the front. You should hear the DVD drive power up and whir. Then press the white button again, wait for the yellow light to come back, and unplug the Wii.

    If you didn't hear the drive start up, most likely one of the two ribbons isn't connected to the drive correctly. Doublecheck the previous 3 steps.

    Matt D -

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    • Pull the DVD drive power cable away from its socket on the DVD drive.

    When reversing this step, be careful re-inserting the connector. The pins are very delicate and if you aren't at the proper angle, you can bend them and ruin the drive.

    jisakoff42 -

    The exact thing happened to me just now; I reinserted it at a (very slight) angle, and bent one of the pins at the end of the socket. Luckily, I was able to straighten it back up with a sewing needle. I made sure the spacing was consistent with the rest of the pins, and that I reinserted the connector as straight as I could, so it doesn’t happen again.

    Jose Olarte III -

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    • Use your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the DVD drive ribbon cable socket.

    • Be sure you are prying up on the retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Pull the DVD drive ribbon cable out of its socket.

    • Remove the DVD drive from the Wii.

    When reversing this step, make sure the ribbon is all the way in. For some reason I found positioning it with my replacement drive was much harder than with my old drive. The gentlest tug after lowering the brown clip would show that the ribbon was not actually being held tightly. I thought for a while that the clip itself was broken, but eventually I got it to hold the ribbon correctly.

    Matt D -

    Be careful with this step. I too had difficulty re-inserting the ribbon. I even popped off the brown clip and thought I broke it. Thankfully it snapped back into place.

    Dana Kennard -

    It is difficult to tell, but be aware that the brown piece is the retaining flap, not the light piece , which is the actual socket.

    Dan Neunaber -

    I had to use Kapton tape. I couldn’t get the clip back on.

    Jim Allen -

    This was the trickiest step for me. Take note of how the ribbon is configured before you loosen the clip to help you replace it with confidence in the right way.

    Ping Wu -

    Careful! When reinstalling, I think I bent and broke the ribbon. The Wii doesn't respond upon power up - I think because it doesn't see the drive.

    Steve Bennett -

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    • The following steps are only necessary if your replacement Wii DVD drive does not include the four rubber grommets along the front and rear of the DVD drive housing.

    • Insert the tip of a long, skinny screwdriver into the hole in the center of the first grommet on the rear of the DVD drive housing.

    • Pull the grommet straight away from the DVD drive housing until it is free.

    Steps 23 - 26 are only necessary if your replacement Wii DVD drive does not include the four rubber grommets along the front and rear of the DVD drive housing.

    Walter -

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    • Repeat the procedure described in the preceding step for the second rubber grommet on the rear of the DVD drive housing.

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    • Set the DVD drive on its side, with the two rubber grommets along the front of the drive facing you.

    • Insert the end of the skinny screwdriver into the hole in the center of the lower rubber grommet along the front of the DVD drive housing.

    • Pull the screwdriver straight up until the grommet is free.

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    • Rotate the DVD drive housing 180 degrees so that it is resting on the side opposite that of the previous step.

    • Repeat the procedure in the preceding step to remove the second rubber grommet along the front of the DVD drive housing.

    Thanks for the guide David! Fantastic instructions! Awesome illustrations! Ordered replacement drive from Amazon & fixed it in less than an hour. You've made many folks happy :)

    Santosh Doss -

    This is a great, comprehensive guide. Thank You!

    ershler -

    you rock. Great detail!!!

    Mark K -

    I went to my local thrift shop and found a Wii for $10 they were willing to let me test before leaving, and with that working DVD drive, I was able to restore my old Wii! Now, I will plug some emulators in the spare one and see if I can get my $ back on a buy & sell. Without this walkthrough, none of that would have been possible! Thank you!!

    Geoff Kennedy -

    très bien expliqué aucune difficulté BRAVO

    b.russier -

    Thank you for the guide. This worked perfectly!

    Chong Cho -

    Awesome guide! One question; can I reuse the two old cables or is that not recommended? I can’t find them in stock anywhere online.

    Daniel Greene -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

David Hodson

Member since: 14/04/10

150358 Reputation

91 comments

Brilliant guide. I had the drive swapped in 10 mins and my son is over the moon.

Patrick Anderson -

My Wii stopped reading disks and there was a bad clicking noise when trying to read disks. I swapped it out with a new one by following this guide and it works perfectly now! I could not be more pleased. Great guide!

adamhuttonc -

This was exact and awesome. I ordered a drive online and installed it using these very exact and useful instructions. worked perfectly, and two little people are quite happy. Thanks again.

markstewart73 -

I need the video here is one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0qXRq8hB...

Tezz Ly -

Excellent Guide!! Very descriptive.

billyf0486 -

Worked great. Replacing the DVD drive fixed my son's WII. In fact, just a week shy of his 15th birthday, he was able to replace the drive himself. First time he's tackled any repair like this. I just made sure he took his time and labeled and used the mag proj mat to keep track of the pieces.

Ed A -

Oh my goodness - well done this is THE most fantastic guide. We are absolutely delighted to have fixed our Wii

THANK YOU very much!

Jo1 -

Great step by step. Had to recover the old Wii after having licensed several songs on Rock Band 3, only to find that Nintendo only licenses to the console. Followed all steps, without hiccup, and and pleased to be playing tunes that I'd paid for and thought was just money thrown away. Not to mention I didn't want to send the thing in to Nintendo for $80..

Wendell Peninger -

Great guide. Now I can play my great library of Wii games again. My one trouble spot was step 6, which took me about 40 minutes to end up doing wrong. My Wii now works great again. The only thing is that when I put a Gamecube disk in, there is a loud, clicking noise that doesn't stop. It still plays, but I'm just going to stick to playing Wii games on my Wii. I still can't believe I had to wait a month for my tri-wing screwdriver to be imported from Asia (thanks Amazon).

Nick -

What an excellent guide. A huge thank you to the creator! Took an hour with the "help" of my 6-year-old daughter. ;)

jasendorf -

Great experience. The order was filled and delivered in 4 days. The instructions with pictures were excellent. Step 6 was the trickiest. Forget the tweezers. Use the spudger and a small flat head screwdriver and pry the connector off side to side. I took about 1 hour. It is very straightforward but not for the novice.

morrison -

Fantastic step by step guide! Took me about 10min with no problems and the Wii is back up and working.

Thanks!

Dave -

Perfect! Next time won't be so cheap and order the complete set of tools instead of just the Tri-Wing screwdriver :)

Another victory over replacement economics :):)

David Toebaert -

One more thing. Since Wii s with a defective DVD drive would typically be older, I would advise at step 15 to recommend replacing the battery, it's quite standard and easy to find, type CR2032.

David Toebaert -

What does the battery power?

Leah Walsh -

the battery powers the internal clock

so that you don't have to reset the time every time you plug it in :)

[deleted] -

Thanks for this guide! I fixed my niece's Wii, when loading data is like music to me now!

maggiico -

Good guide. I followed it but when I tried the DVD is not spinning. The DVD can be inserted and ejects nicely but it does not spin. I opened it up to step 22 again and checked the cables and connector, but it all looked fine. Anybody got a solution?

Erland Schonbeck -

This was an excellent guide! I fixed my mother-in-laws Wii with this guide.

Dana Kennard -

Thanks.

My Wii works as new with a new dvd drive

Peter Kok -

The guide worked really well. I had no problems replacing the drive. Unfortunately, I still get the disc read error from my Wii. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to fix it?

Dan Neunaber -

I read, after having problems with the first replacement drive, that it's pot luck with cheap DVD drives - whether the optics are really correctly aligned is anyone's guess. In my case, the drive occasionally read a Wii disk, but would usually cause an error on returning from a game to reading from the disk again. The signal that it failed to read a disk at all was a series of drive startup sounds, each followed by a loud click - I guess the optics failing to find something on the disk, retrying, and eventually returning to park position.

The only other thing I noticed is that the drive data cable can easily become bent when you reassemble the device. The kink in the data cable of our device did not prevent the second drive from working correctly. But I could imagine that a wire could be broken by such a kink.

stephenwpfeiffer -

Thanks - really great! Had to try twice, because the first replacement DVD drive was also bad. Only problem - I don't think that the front panel wires can be unplugged on my device. Eventually just left the front panel attached by it's wires. Parts and tools ordering over the web site is a real help as well.

stephenwpfeiffer -

This was a great guide! I fixed my family's Wii following this guide, and the disc drive has worked great ever since!

Joshua Tracy -

Just took the old defective Wii apart for the heck of it today and I was wondering if the DVD drive could be salvaged to rip wii games on a pc? It doesn't look like it uses standard connectors.

Marshall -

Does the PCB in the original drive need to be moved to the new one?

Certainly CLEAN -

I just completed this repair on my daughter's Wii and its back to working good as new again. only took about 30 minutes. Not overly complex and difficult...just a lot of small screws.

Thanks for the great guide! Saved me from having to figure it out on my own.

Richard Spilker -

Only went through step 18, as I needed to remove a daughter's bracelet that the son inserted into the drive - my step 19 was to take out the 5 screws holding the drive together - but I was reassembled and playing in about 20 min. A really well done and clear write up.

Rusty Shackleford -

Excellent guide! Before you start, get a small parts tray with at least 15 bins in it, and put the screws from each step in a separate bin. It makes reassembly MUCH easier!

larry -

Caution: I tried repairing my Wii Classic with a drive from a Wii Family Edition. Now it won't play GameCube discs anymore. Besides buying another drive, does anyone else have any ideas on how to make this work? Or are the newer Wii Family Edition drives not able to play the smaller discs?

Adam Yaksich -

Great and very clear, you need to mark all of the screws, such as pots or as I did envelopes to hold the screws at each step. need to make sure you have the right screwdrivers - the philips ones seem very sensitive to using the correct size.

Richard Latham -

Ed sheeran music love

James newton -

Fantastic!! Around an hour. Made an 11yo boy happiest kid on the planet. Thank you, David. :D

Chris Howard -

Excelent guide, thanks!

Mike Konopka -

Where would one get all of the screwdrivers for this?

Gavin Frody -

all u need to do is get the ifixit pro tech tool kit and the nintendo wii triwing screw driver on amazon thats it and its very easy to take apart the only difficult part is getting the ribbon and wire cable back onto the thing its easy to remove but hard to put back on

erik -

thank god i looked at this before i took the disc drive out and i bought my new one on ebay and now i can play my games again without the discs getting scratched to !&&*

erik -

good idea because it it going to work

hamzaalkhulaidi -

Good guide to fix DVD drive on Wii. Main trouble I had was to attach cable back to new DVD drive. Didn't realize that the second cable bacame longer and easier to use after hidden part was taken out of housing in last step to open.

Sathish Goli -

Excellent guide. Very good visual to help user know hes’s in the right place. Putting it back together I had issues with the last two tri-wing / tiny screws and had to re-appropriate two of the longer tri-wing screws at key areas to hold the Wii together. It is solid, so I’m not worried. Thanks!

shaunwtx -

these instructions were spot on and very easy to follow. the illustrations were very helpful. thanks!!!

Chris Morton -

This was very helpful,i thought i had to buy a new console but thanks to this guide i can play my wii again,thank u so much!!

Jean Lopez Romero -

Excellent presentation on how to replace the wii drive. I’ve fixed many, many things, looked through many videos and manuals and this presentation is probably the best I’ve seen. Thanks!

John A -

Drive swap completed within 20 minutes and I’m ecstatic, the right tools can make a world of difference. Great guide! Thanks for this. 5 stars!!!!!

netdude21 -

Awesome guide! You saved my old Wii :-)

paul_ezzy -

Great guide. Others commented on a parts bin. I used a shallow cardboard box and wrote parts descriptions down as they were removed. Suggest going through directions first so you don’t need a trip to the hardware store after you’ve started

lapaynejr -

What a great guide! Easy to follow steps and great pictures. The only problem I ran into was on step 13 where the tri-wing screws are deep in a hole and my standard 1/4” drive bit wouldn’t fit into the hole. I ended up buying the Mako Driver set from ifixit.com (Mako Driver Kit - 64 Precision Bits) and I’m glad that I did - it is an AMAZING set. Thanks for the excellent repair guide!

dave whale -

A+ guide. One tiny tip - when putting the drive back in, if you don’t have a magnetic screwdriver, it is much easier to have the holes facing down and lift the screw to them for the front two holes (the grommitted ones that must go through the top of the drive first)

Jonathan Pullen -

I do not consider myself handy but purchased the tools online (there’s a kit on Amazon that is perfect with magnetic screwdrivers) and followed the instructions and my Wii is up and running again!  Excellent instructions!

ericj131 -

Great, easy guide. Process takes around 15 - 30 minutes, not 1 to 2

italianajt -

Thanks for the guide! I swapped out a new drive, it seems to be getting power, but the drive won’t feed or eject discs. Any suggestions?

Matt -

I don’t know what you do for a living but you should be writing instructional manuals. I Installed and repaired commercial kitchen equipment,as well as CNC machinery for 20 years. I have worked on everything from our toaster to light aircraft and this is the best set of instructions I have ever seen. Our WII was slightly different with regards to the DVD unit itself but not enough to matter

KUDOS ( I am not really sure what that really means but I think it’s a compliment)……LOL

Dan Cox -

Fantastic guide - extremely helpful. The Wii and it’s game history are back. Thank you!

Steve Bauer -

Perfect! Thanks!

dirtsquirt -

This worked out very well for me - now we have one more thing to do while in quarantine. Solid win!!

ashembers -

This was a great teardown, but unfortunately my results were not as successful. No fault of the author but looking for some guidance or clarification. As the Wii DVD Drives are out of stock currently I bought a “new” one off of eBay (maybe my first mistake). I used this guide how to replace it making sure my RVL-001 Wii got a compatible drive. After inserting multiple Wii and Game Cube discs I was met with a error screen. Contacting the seller he tells me that his technician said the drive I purchased was not Plug n’ Play and I would have to take the original “pcb drive logic (circuit) board” and put it one my “new” replacement DVD drive. In doing this the new drive will no even accept discs. This is concerning as I do not see this listed anywhere in the teardown; so, I’m thinking I got ripped off.

Christopher Sullivan -

worked great. Thank You !

Mike Morgan -

I swapped out the disk reader and it works but now none of the controllers work! Anyone have this happen to them? Any tips to trouble shoot?

Allison Biaglow -

Excellent guide! I like how this guide showed the removal of all the screws, a couple of previous guides I went over did not cover all of the places that screws were covered by paper stickers which left a little guesswork and some slight frustration as I removed stickers I didn’t need to trying to locate the last screw holding the case together. This guide covered it 100%

JARED SWORD -

The step-by-step guide was perfect! Thank you. We’re back in business and having family fun!

Darla Little - May 3

FISHALITTLE2 -

Pretty sure I did everything right but for some reason the drive doesn’t actually suck the disk in, and the eject button doesn’t work either. Do you think it’s a bad part or is there a step that people commonly mess up that I should go back and double check?

James Henthorn -

Very well done! Since I took apart my Wii 5 months ago, this is just what I needed to put it back together. Thanks!

Ryan Weber -

Thanks for such an awesome breakdown. Some of the additional notes by others were really useful, as well.

Kevin Dietrich -

Very helpful and was easy to follow.

Lord Burns -

Guida perfetta. Grazi mille!

Perfect explanation . Thanks!

Alessandro V -

This guide is excellent! I have used it to fix Wii’s for friends and our personal Wii. Fairly easy and quick repair. Thanks for taking the time to make it!

Carol -

My son did 99 percent of the work. This guide was great. Watch for the little plastic airflow grill thing falling off the shell after you remove the shell. There’s no mention of it in the directions, but we ended up with this thing on the table when all was reassembled!

kctipton -

It worked! Thank :)

billyjdale -

Just received a new drive from Ifixit, and followed the guide to replace the original that wouldn’t load disks anymore. Very clear instructions and a fairly simple repair. Now the wii will load and eject disks but will not spin them up. After the disk is taken in and seated there are a couple of clicks, then nothing. Is it possible the replacement I got is bad out of the box?

Erin MacDonald -

Great guide, got my old wii up and working again with a new disc drive!

Tyler Schafman -

Thank you for this guide! Got my Wii up and running again in 2 hrs.

Now, what else can I fix around the house…. ;)

Alan Walker -

This guide worked great! It took me about an hour and I had to get a dozen small dishes out to hold various screws as I was taking them out. Swapped my broken drive with a new one from iFixit and have had no problems at all.

Simon Ringsmuth -

разобрал - собрал без проблем. огромное спасибо автору! ни одного лишнего движения. очень впечатлён.

TV Tsinko -

Superb guide! Resurrected my Wii that hasn't worked in ages!

Jonathan Prentice -

does the wii dvd drive replacement part come with the lens scanner part attached to it?

Doc Louis -

Thank you! Just completed this repair on my old Wii, took less than an hour and back to functioning! Very glad for the picture showing the ribbon cable before it was disconnected for peace of mind during reassembly that I didn’t need to try again and get the ribbon a little further.

Ry McClure -

This was so much fun! I’m a 70+ grandma and this guide helped me fix my Wii so my grandkids can now compete with me when they come over. I used the little squares in my tool pack lid and wrote in the step number with a pencil to hold the screws for that step. When it was time to put it all back together it was really easy to reassemble everything. I proudly placed an I FIXED IT sticker on the Wii case. Thanks for a great guide for my first repair.

Chris Hembd -

Success! Clear, concise instructions with brilliant photos. You couldn’t have made this guide any more easy to follow. Replaced the Wii drive without any problems.

mkeehnel -

perfect instructions. Thank you for the contribution!

John Teller -

Great guide! I was able to get a new drive in a Wii that wouldn't read the disk, and now it works perfectly!!! Here I come, legend of Zelda!!!

Max Russell -

SUPER easy tutorial followed it with my iFixit tools and magnet pad for the parts and had it apart and back together in about 40 min. My sisters Wii is now working again and she is happy.

John Cone -

I just completed this and had no trouble; but i recommend reading through the steps and the comments before starting so you have all the needed supplies (egg carton, small battery, tweezers, etc) before starting. And it took me about an hour going rather methodically.

Jeffrey Daxe -

No idea if anyone will read this in 2022, but here it goes!

I was replacing the optical drive of my wii with a new one I purchased online. The new drive worked beautifully, but as I was reassembling, I had trouble with some of the screws from Step 19. I tried to direct the screw's passage to the bottom panel with the help of a small donut-shaped magnet around the screw driver. It was a simple magnet we use to post things to the fridge. However, this strategy didn't work so I took a break. When I returned I found that the wii was not turning on at all anymore. Is it possible that the magnet damaged the wii's motherboard?

Thanks for any pointers!

Marc R. Thompson -

Great guide, super straightforward!

Benry -

Excellent guide! Worked seamlessly! My 10 year old just might be over the moon. Thank you!

Cat Cee -

Yeah, that's how it should be. Wii repair for dummies :-) Thank you for the great guide, especially in the name of my kids!

Peter Habermehl -

Guides like this is what makes ifixit.com such a great site! Very easy to follow! One word of advice for anyone that is going to do this: make sure you keep track of which screws you remove at each step. Some of them are VERY close in size and it's easy to get them mixed up. I just got some double sided tape, paper and pen. At each step I wrote down the step number and applied a piece of tape to the paper. Then I "stuck" each screw to the tape.

Jonas Temple -

My grandson and I finished replacing the Wii drive in an about hour and a half, and actually got all the screws back where they belong. Wii is back and up and running.

John Lattyak -

Excellent tutorial! I purchased a DVD assembly and didn't have to do all the steps. Tri tip screws awe awful. I ended up replacing all of them and using Philips to not worry about stripping the heads. Although I doubt I'll ever need to open up the unit again.

kwjayhawk -

Fantastic guide, excellent detail and order of operations.

Chris Dennison -

used the guide to fix the humming problem of the Wii, now its quite again;)

kAt7 -